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H22A4 using new ACL Race Bearings out of spec? Or safe.

3K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  Rywen 
#1 ·
While checking clearances on my mains using the ACL Race bearings, they seemed to be way too loose. More than 0.002in.
Referring to this from the Helm's, I'm clearly past even the service limit.
And mind you, every single bearing was about exactly the same, +0.002in, only one of them was a solid 0.0015in.
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Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I tried two times. The crank and bearings are clean, and un-lubed. I tried once with dry bolts, and once with the bolts dipped in engine oil, as is said to be done when doing a proper install.
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I am using plastigauge from orielly's, if it matters. I do know this bearings are harder than oem bearings, though I am unaware if that means the clearances can be looser or not. Although this H22 will be turboed (yes it's properly sleeved and has forged internals), I am going to be running it NA for probably a good 6-8 months first. If it was turbo out the gate, I wouldn't be as concerned over such a clearance.

So do y'all think this is perfectly safe? Or will I have to try something else.
 
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#2 ·
Well based on the picture it looks like it’s in that threshold of between .002 and .003, if was any more loose than .003 or exactly on .003 than i’d be concerned but it looks like it’s about .025, remember than plasti-gauge is a great tool but they aren’t 100% precise. Also race bearings are actually softer than OEM, but keep in mind race bearings will probably be on the more loose side considering they’re made for race applications like boost. The only way to get precise clearances on the exact dot would be getting Honda OEM bearings with their precise over/under size options or have the crank clearanced if all other bearings give you the same loose clearances.
If you have a proper balance shaft delete i probably wouldn’t be concerned with those clearances you have especially considering it’ll be boosted. Honestly based on the picture it’s almost spot on with .002 and looks bigger/tighter than .003
 
#3 ·
Well based on the picture it looks like it’s in that threshold of between .002 and .003, if was any more loose than .003 or exactly on .003 than i’d be concerned but it looks like it’s about .025, remember than plasti-gauge is a great tool but they aren’t 100% precise. Also race bearings are actually softer than OEM, but keep in mind race bearings will probably be on the more loose side considering they’re made for race applications like boost. The only way to get precise clearances on the exact dot would be getting Honda OEM bearings with their precise over/under size options or have the crank clearanced if all other bearings give you the same loose clearances.
If you have a proper balance shaft delete i probably wouldn’t be concerned with those clearances you have especially considering it’ll be boosted. Honestly based on the picture it’s almost spot on with .002 and looks bigger/tighter than .003
I definitely double checked them all on the 0.003 line, and each was much bigger at least. I also will indeed be deleting the balance shafts as well. It's definitely looser than 0.002 exactly. Even running 10w-40 has me still considering if it's worth it or not. I just wanted good bearings and also skip the hassle of having to get all the color coded honda bearings, especially since when it IS turboed, I really don't want such tight clearances.

I also had some weird issue with the plastigauge sticking to both the top of the bearing and the crank, so who really knows if it even measured correctly enough or not... As in, when I removed the part that bolts the crank down (blanking on the name, has all the oil passages), there was plastigauge stuck to it, as well as the crank itself. The photo was the least messed up one, others ended up crooked or just not even flattened correctly at all. Or fully pulled up half-off the crank on the bearing side.
 
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